


Trial One

by ConcoctionsFromHell



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Papyrus (Undertale) Knows More Than He Lets On, Papyrus (Undertale) Remembers Resets, Papyrus (Undertale)-centric, Papyrus has something along the lines of Multiple Personality Disorder, Sadistic Flowey (Undertale), Sadistic Papyrus (Undertale), Sans has gone crazy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:08:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21549652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConcoctionsFromHell/pseuds/ConcoctionsFromHell
Summary: It’s about time, don’t you think?
Relationships: Flowey & Papyrus (Undertale)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 45





	1. So it begins

**Author's Note:**

> hello yes i’m alive

I was surprised, to say the least, when Sans finally confronted me. I couldn't even respond, I was so bewildered, and Sans, thinking that I disbelieved him, continued on, rambling. Trying to explain the timelines, the anomaly, the lies and half-truths, simply just digging an even deeper dirt pit for himself. 

However,  _ I _ am the one burying myself in the lies. I, The Great Papyrus, Solanaceae, Papy the dumb naive idiot, don’t even  _ know my own personality. Let alone  _ **_have_ ** _ one.  _ Everything that The Great Papyrus knows about is the script, the premade lines, the lies, the naivete and that The Great Papyrus is a fool who knows nothing about anything. Unlike me, who knows everything about anything.

The Great Papyrus didn't know what to do, besides comfort Sans, as The Great Papyrus had always done for Sans, regardless of The Great Papyrus’s mood. For The Great Papyrus was nothing else, never anything else. The Great Papyrus is not supposed to understand. The Great Papyrus is only a comforter, a dumb idiot to make fun of, nothing more. Never anything more. The Great Papyrus never breaks character, not for anything or for anyone.

When I thought of telling Flowey, I was elated. Flowey always keeps an eye on me, so he knows what happened. It was about time we started a new project. I began to make my way to the clearing, where Flowey and I would meet. Where we always meet, regardless of the timelines.

Alas, yet again I could not shed my mask, for Sans was there, at our clearing, levitating Flowey in the air, his roots exposed. Sans’s eye socket illuminated brightly, shining aqua, patience, all over the trampled snow. I saw leaves and bits of Flowey's petals, scattered all over the ground, crushed and dirty.

The Great Papyrus gasped at the scene. Sans whirled around, searching for the intruder, his eye socket then began blazing a magnificent yellow, justice. The light show faded when Sans realized it was just The Great Papyrus, and not a potential threat. I noticed Flowey's grateful sigh, Sans did not. This situation had happened once before, and ended terribly, but only Flowey and I knew about that. Sans would have too, but I destroyed those notes, and any that may have regarded me knowing.

Sans approached me, his smile wider, and more real than I’ve ever seen before. I stiffened, a bit miffed. The Great Papyrus smiled, and laughed, overjoyed at his brother’s expression. 

“ papy, do you remember what i said about the anomaly? how its constantly resetting the timelines? ” The eye lights disappeared from Sans’ eye sockets. With his smile still etched upon his face, he summoned a large deformed femur. 

He aimed the femur at me, his smile still wide, his sockets still empty. His magic yellow, justice, rather than aqua, patience, he truly believes what he is doing is just. Flowey nearly cried out when The Great Papyrus was nearly struck by the femur. Flowey understood that The Great Papyrus always took the hit, he knew The Great Papyrus held too much compassion in his bones. However, I know how to dodge.

Sans was surprised when I simply swayed out of the way. He became angry. “ papyRUS !” Sans screamed, his voice hitched and high pitched. “ THIS IS THE ONLY WAY! “ He cried at me, nearly falling into a coughing fit. He was crying horribly large tears, colored a soft aqua, to match his ectoplasm. 

Flowey screech in horror, while I gaped. Sans was coughing up dust, he never could hold himself together. Especially not after finding out about who is causing the resets. The Great Papyrus would've rushed to his aid, to heal his brother. I simply grasped Flowey in my own magick, cradled him and left, teleporting to the house. I went to the basement underneath the house and searched through his many notes. Flowey clung to my cervical spine, obviously shaken.

“ Flowey, please attempt to stop shaking. It is bothering me. ” Flowey took a deep breath and very slowly stopped shaking. Slowly, he unwound his stem from my cervical spine and slowly made his way into a pocket on the inside of The Great Papyrus’s Battle Body. I found the notes regarding Flowey, carefully I dumped the notes into a nearby cup, ruining the ink. I then shredded the notes. I noticed a slightly yellowed note taped by the hinges of the door. It read,  “I did as you requested, although I am worried about that Flower. If you don’t leave that clearing within the hour, I will send Undyne, Stay safe Sans.”

As I hummed a nonsensical tune, Flowey wiggled back out of the pocket and faced towards me. “ Nightshade, we need to get out of here, and get to Alphys too. She may have notes and we don't know if that stardamned otaku remembers anything significant. I’d rather not find out during this run . ” I grabbed the shredded mess and teleported to the kitchen. I turned on the wood stove and burned the notes into ashes. Still humming the song I teleported to Sans’ sentry station where it divides Hotland and Waterfall. 

I was caught by surprise, Undyne was already there, crossing the bridge, she hadn’t noticed me yet. Flowey made a noise of distaste, and burrowed into my ribcage, taking solace under my trash armor. I slapped a smile onto my face, slipping into the persona of The Great Papyrus with ease.

“NYEH, HEH, HEH! WHY UNDYNE I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU ON THIS SIDE OF WATERFALL IN AGES! WHATEVER ARE YOU DOING OVER HERE! NYEH, HEH!?” The Great Papyrus stopped Undyne on the bridge. I made sure we were far enough away from the water cooler, just in case an accident needed to happen. 

Undyne stopped in her tracks, and an uncertain look flickered across her face before she steeled herself. “Papyrus! As your Captain of the Royal Guard, I hereby declare thee a royal guard,” She gave the barest hint of a grimace, like the statement left a bitter-like taste in her mouth, “Your first assignment is to accompany me to investigate a ruckus in Snowdin Forest.” She was smiling widely now, but the edges of it were twitching, was she not happy to appoint The Great Papyrus as an official Royal Guard or was she unhappy because she didn't want to deal with Sans and his shenanigans?

“NYEH, HEH, HEH! THE GREAT PAPYRUS ALWAYS KNEW HE WOULD BECOME A ROYAL GUARD!” The Great Papyrus was elated! He’s been working so hard he could jump for joy! Solanaceae rather thought I should, it would be perfectly in character and with the added bonus of personally killing Undyne without EXP affecting me. 

The Great Papyrus smiled broadly at Undyne, “NYEH, HEH! I SHALL LEAD THE WAY! DO FOLLOW, THE GREAT PAPYRUS KNOWS A SHORTCUT!” The Great Papyrus bounded off the bridge to where Sans sits in his sentry station. Undyne followed, with much less enthusiasm to where Papyrus stood. 

“DO CLOSE YOUR EYES AND PERHAPS HOLD YOUR BREATH!” The Great Papyrus grabbed Undyne by the forearm and with two brisk steps the two of them found themselves at the conjunction of where Waterfall met Snowdin.


	2. Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I watched her march for a bit longer then declared, “NYEH? UNDYNE , I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS , AM UNDER THE ASSUMPTION WE WERE HEADING TOWARDS THE SNOWDIN FOREST?” I posed as well, The Great Papyrus's hip dramatically thrusted in her direction with my arm also dramatically pointed towards her. It was all quite dramatic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry, I have nothing to say for myself

Undyne stumbled to her knees, her armor making a muffled  _ CLANG!  _ into the snow. With a hand in the snow to brace herself, and to perhaps make certain that she was in fact in snowdin and no longer in hotland, and her other hand pressed into her collar, Undyne took great shuddering breaths. 

The Great Papyrus crouched next to her. “NYEH? WHAT ARE YOU DOING UNDYNE? DID YOU NOT SAY THAT WE HAD A RUCKUS TO INVESTIGATE.” Within his head Solancae leered menacingly. She certainly deserved it, especially because of how she treats us. 

“By the Angel themself, Papyrus, I wasn’t expecting that,” She took another breath, “uh, form of travel?” she breathed deeply again, “from you.” Undyne took a few more breaths before standing upright with a wince. “C’mon, Alphys is waiting for us.” She put on a brace face and began marching off, supposedly, towards where Alphys is. 

Solancae muffled a snicker and I felt Flowey shift under my rib cage, most likely also hiding amusement. I watched her march for a bit longer then declared, “NYEH? UNDYNE , I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS , AM UNDER THE ASSUMPTION WE WERE HEADING TOWARDS THE SNOWDIN FOREST?” I posed as well, The Great Papyrus's hip dramatically thrusted in her direction with my arm also dramatically pointed towards her. It was all quite dramatic. 

Undyne stopped where she stood, her foot still poised in the air. She spun around abruptly, a blank expression on her face, with a dark blue blush dusting across her cheeks and down her neck, and marched in the almost correct direction.  _ I wonder if she knows that Alphys has cameras set up…  _

“WOWIE UNDYNE,” The Great Papyrus said with absolutely no sarcasm whatsoever, “HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT DIRECTION WE NEED TO GO?” The Great Papyrus trotted after Undyne obediently, like a lap dog,  _ heh... _

Undyne tensed for a second, her pectoral fins twitching with indignation, then it was gone in flash. She turned back towards us and continued marching, strangely in the actual correct direction. “Fuhuhu, As your Captain of The Royal Guard,” she thumped her fist twice against her chest, “It is my duty to know the going-ons of the sentries!” She smiled a wide shark-like grin, a manic energy in her eyes. “Therefore! I must know everything that happens! No matter how trivial! It may become important information later!,” she threw her head back and laughed, wild and loud. 

If sans wanted to escape, now's the time. She looked back at me, her eyes even more wild and feral, “Fuhuhuhu just like in an anime!” Undyne spun back around and ran into the forest, slipping into the trees. 

Flowey whispered into one of my rib bones, rib L4 I thought idly, “Solancae, is she hidden from sight..?” With a light hum, more of a purr really, I peered around the trees, continuing into the forest with a shambling pace. 

“I don't see her, and besides her eyes aren't made for this lighting, regardless of what her nasty little lover may have made her.”

Flowey popped up and out of my battle armor, his vines twisting and shifting lightly against my spinal column, the sensation pleasant. He hummed a quiet tune, it seems familiar. “Do you think she'll stumble and dust herself?” Flowey had a thoughtful sneer, “ maybe with a little love tap to help her out?” He constricted and destricted his vines around my rib cage and down my spinal column, causing a pleasant sensation. 

“Unlikely, while a fool, sure, Undyne is graceful, and not yet ill, you forget your timelines,  _ dear, _ ” I flicked the back of his head, “That was three resets ago, and it was marvelous, well except for the sobbing.” 

Flowey wriggled up and over my collarbone and ducked back in, to hide inside my rib cage. He pressed his face into my ribs, and one of his vines gripped it tighter, I stumbled over a rock, the odd sensation surprising me. We've reached the clearing. 

Undyne and Sans are staring at each other, like how two different predators cross paths, wary yet perhaps respectful. Alphys stood to the side, twitching nervously, her eyes flickering back and forth between the two of them. They are her friends, sort of, but the two of them are not friends. Oh how sparks fly, now Solancae is waiting for something to catch aflame.

I took a single pace back and left, taking solace behind a conveniently thick tree's shadow to watch what may happen next. It was invigorating, truly, to wonder and speculate which secrets may spill forth when I know them all. When I know their secrets better than they do. 

Undyne's right hand flexed, and she shifted her weight to the balls of her feet. A tell tale sign of her ready to give a beat down.  _ I wonder if Undyne even knows his HP…  _ Alphas tittered nervously, wringing her hands together.  _ Oh? Maybe sans wasn't a useless piece of shit ice? Did he open up to the biggest loose lip to ever gossip? Maybe Undyne knows but doesn't care? How ruthless…  _ Sans noticed her twitchyness, and in that instant his eye lights flickered towards Alphys, Undyne lunged at him. Her spear out and poised, she roared an intelligible cry. 

Sans panicked and immediately teleported behind her, his sockets dark, devoid of his eye-lights. He raised his right arm sharply, his left socket glowing a vibrant light blue, and raised a row of bones from the ground. creating a swift cage for Undyne in one fell swoop. The bones are tightly interlocked, varying between simple point damage and the blue gravity magic.  _ I wonder which ones Undyne will choose to simply go through.  _

Alphys tittered nervously, “Uh, Un-Undyne I don't think, don't think you should uh,” she scurried a few steps right, further away from Sans, “that you should con-con-contin-contin  _ keep  _ fighting Sans,” she winced and murmured, “It's a uh, a ba-bad, bad idea.” She paced a few more steps away from Sans, as if she knew the wanton destruction Sans could, and would, cause. 

Sans gave a small twitch, and a half step toward Alphys. Undyne snarled and leaped at Sans, phasing through a few point damage and through a single gravity bone. That was her first mistake. Sans’s grin stretched wider and became a bit more feral. He immediately slammed his arm downward, causing Undyne to smash into the ground with a painful  _ CLANK! _ Alphys winced in an empathic way. Undyne groaned irritably, she definitely wasn't used to this much power. Sans is giving himself away, and he noticed that too, if the way his hand twitched a little higher and how Undyne seemed to relax minutely. 

Perhaps now is the time to show myself? I gave myself a light dusting, and smiled largely. I took a step right and two forward, then The Great Papyrus positively bounced the rest of the way. “NYEH? BY THE ANGEL! WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?” Sans immediately swiped his arm and all the bones faded from existence, and the gravity magic dissipated off of Undyne.  _ How Suspicious… _

Alphys twittered for a few scant seconds and then scurried to check on Undyne. Her eyes scanning for any injuries. Undyne was breathing heavily, perhaps Sans used more power than he thought if his wide sockets are anything to go by.


	3. Rinse and Repeat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alphys shifted meekly, “I, uh, I saw, on the,” she shuffled her hands nervously, “on the cameras that, that I-I have set up ne-near this area, that uh,” she took a few steps back, further away from Sans. Undyne didn't fail to notice this and sent Sans a glare, Alphas noticed and cringed in fear, “that uh, um, that I, from what I, ob-obs-obser-erved, observed tha-ah, uh, that Sans was using some sig-signif-ifcantly strong, um, magic,” she curled further into herself, “from ah, what my mom-monitors showed me.”  
> Sans's grin turned even sharper and he growled, “your monitors are faulty and you have yet to fix them,” he took a single step towards her, “as evidenced by the fact, that my magic isn't strong enough to show up on magic readers.”  
> Alphys shuffled three steps back and bumped into a tree trunk and scrambled around it, “That's not true!” she seemed surprised that she yelled, then continued in a quieter tone of voice, “That's not-not true. I've alread-ady re-recal-calibra-ated the machines thrice since, since last week.” she took a step forward, towards Sans surprisingly, “I found new compu-com-com-computer parts in, in the, the the-uh dump and used them to update my machine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I might end up posting more often

The Great Papyrus grinned, enjoying the spotlight. Solancae also grinned but for a completely different reason. Everyone was watching Papyrus warily, like they didn't want to give themselves away. Undyne was leaning heavily on Alphys, who could barely support her own weight with her anxiety. Sans stood notably apart, closer to me than to them. 

They glanced at each other before Undyne spoke up, “Papyrus! What took you so long!?!” Her eyes shifted warily between us and Sans. Like she was on the verge of an epiphany. 

“NYEH HEH HEH! WHY, OF COURSE, I WENT IN THE COMPLETELY WRONG DIRECTION!” The Great Papyrus spun around in a circle for emphasis. The Great Papyrus struck a pose. “DID YOU FIND THE RUCKUS, UNDYNE?” The Great Papyrus pointed at her, still in a pose. 

She winced, “Uh, no. No, I didn't.” she gestured towards Sans but pointedly not looking at him, “all I found was him,” she grimaced as she said it, “and some fussed up snow banks.” her tone belied that she didn't believe whatever lie Sans had told her about the fight. 

She took a breathe and heaved her weight off of Alphys shoulders, to stand under her own two feet. Alphas stumbled back at the loss of weight. 

Undyne spoke thus, with a commanding tone, “Do you Papyrus have any information that could aid me in this quest?” 

The Great Papyrus shifted into his thinking pose, with a metacarpal tapping lightly against his jaw. “NYEH, I DO NOT KNOW SO, I HAVE HEARD OF NO RUCKUS NEAR THESE AREAS BEFORE YOU HAD TOLD ME SO.” 

Alphys shifted meekly, “I, uh, I saw, on the,” she shuffled her hands nervously, “on the cameras that, that I-I have set up ne-near this area, that uh,” she took a few steps back, further away from Sans. Undyne didn't fail to notice this and sent Sans a glare, Alphas noticed and cringed in fear, “that uh, um, that I, from what I, ob-obs-obser-erved, observed tha-ah, uh, that Sans was using some sig-signif-ifcantly strong, um, magic,” she curled further into herself, “from ah, what my mom-monitors showed me.” 

Sans's grin turned even sharper and he growled, “your monitors are faulty and you have yet to fix them,” he took a single step towards her, “as evidenced by the fact, that my magic isn't strong enough to show up on magic readers.”

Alphys shuffled three steps back and bumped into a tree trunk and scrambled around it, “That's not true!” she seemed surprised that she yelled, then continued in a quieter tone of voice, “That's not-not true. I've alread-ady re-recal-calibra-ated the machines thrice since, since last week.” she took a step forward, towards Sans surprisingly, “I found new compu-com-com-computer parts in, in the, the the-uh dump and used them to update my machine.” She glanced at Papyrus, “It has allowed me to see more nuanced magic use and, and uh, uh, um never mind,” whatever was powering her, she lost. 

Sans scoffed, disbelieving. Undyne took offence but didn't act, surprisingly. Silence reigned for a few scant seconds. All that could be heard was the gentle fall of snow puffing onto the surrounding snowbanks. Sans stood stock still, noticing something the others hadn’t. He was staring at us, Flowey and I. Flowey shifted within my battle body, a gentle and minute movement. Yet somehow Sans noticed, and. he. attacked. me. He shook his hands out, and raised them upwards, just barely noticeable.

I took a step left and three skyward, letting my own gravity magic rush through my bones, allowing me to stand on air. Sans’s attack was just a few bones, not enough to truly hurt me, but rather to contain me. Those bones were filled with his gravity magic, burning a brilliantly bright light blue, with yellow just staining the edges. 

Alphys gave a quiet gasp, she seemed surprised, and Undyne snarled, “What in the world do you thINK YOU ARE DOING, YOU LITTLE TWERP!?!” She stumbled towards, half-limping but still trying to take a swipe at him.

I laughed,  _ Oh now this is new! How exciting! How, exhilarating!  _ “Oh Sans,” I teased, with a lilting tone, “Pray tell, what now? What changed? What caused this, huh?” I gave another jubilant laugh and jumped a bit higher, now quite obviously standing on the air.  _ I don’t think I’ve been this energized in ages.  _

Flowey curled tighter to my spinal cord, quite noticeably being uncomfortable high in the air without the ground to disappear into. He hummed a quiet yet familiar tune to himself, like how small children do. The vibrations caused but it, were not...unpleasant.

Sans snarled and threw his arm out, and Undyne collapsed to the forest floor, only a few steps away from him. Undyne let out a pained whine and Alphys took a startled half pace towards her. Sans whirled around to face Alphys and between one blink and the next, he was next to her. He held a gravity magic imbued femur bone, which he swiped through Alphys before she could react. Immediately Alphys collapsed to the ground, the gravity magic too strong for her. 

Sans stared at her then walked away and with a flick of his metacarpals, the weight of gravity lessened on Alphys but not on Undyne.  _ I supposed he learned some finesse after all.  _

Sans launched the femur at us, and I dropped back down to the snow banks in a dodge, and he snarled, “you have a lot to explain.” His left hand twitched and I stepped to the right, just barely missing the large bones he summoned. 

“Oh, no. I don’t think I do. Well, actually, I just might. It’s not like you have any notes,” I paused to mock thoughtfully tap my jawbone. “oh, well, I mean, you did but I destroyed them. So you couldn’t remember in the next timeline.” I smiled a feral grin, it felt good to have this off my shoulders. I spread my arm wide, in a mockingly welcome manner. “You terrible fool have nothing left in you to fight, you losing you what? So called ‘fight juice’?”

Undyne was staring at me like I had gone mad, well I had but she didn’t know. Alphys kept twitching from her prone position face-down in the ground. She knew what I was talking about but I’m about to make her spasm. 

“Oh? And Alphys dear, I have a friend of yours,” I tapped my ‘battle bod’ lightly, willing Flowey to come out of his hiding place. He popped his head out of my rib cage and gave a feral grin, “Howdy I’m  _ Flowey,  _ Flowey the Flower. ” Oh! She did spasm! 

Alphys scrambled for purchase in the ground, and that seemed to be the last straw for Sans. He released his gravity magic off Alphys. From the corner of my socket I could tell he released it off of Undyne too. She groaned from the lost of weight off her shoulders. Alphys got up from the snowbanks, flakes of it still clinging to her scales, and she scurried backwards, backing into the same tree as before. She flinched from the rough bark scratching at her scales. No doubt the cold weather making her weaker than she already is, which isn’t much considering how pathetic she really is. 

She managed to croak out, “Wha-why? Why wou-would you do, do, do this?”

I gave her a wide smile, “Why? Well, because it’s the most fun to be had, and it comes with absolutely no consequences!” I stroked Flowey's head, and he shuddered. “Reset.”

And the World drifted into meaningless colors and I laughed at their faces, as realization bloomed, and betrayal was felt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mmmmaybe


End file.
